Delicate
by Amael21
Summary: Gojyo and Hakkai have something fragile. How will Goku and Sanzo react? The second installment in the 'Long Life Arc'. Saiyuki belongs to Minekura Kazuya, not me. IN-PROGRESS.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

It was a fine, mild day, perfect for a walk in the marketplace. At least, that was what Hakkai said right before he dragged Gojyo out with him to do the shopping. He had not even asked if the others needed anything in particular; he just stood up from the table in their small room, grabbed the hanyo by the hand and left. The door closed with a faint snick, leaving Sanzo and Goku alone in the room.

Sanzo was reading a paper, as usual. He was also waiting for the inevitable interruption from the monkey. Several minutes passed, and it did not come. The monk lowered his newspaper marginally, peering over the top of his reading glasses at the brown-haired young man. Goku was sitting on his bed, staring out the window, seemingly absorbed in whatever he was seeing through it.

His bed was situated against the wall; the one large window in the room stretched from halfway down the length of Hakkai's bed to halfway up the length of Goku's. Sanzo's and Gojyo's beds were against the opposite wall, feet facing, with the door in between them. There was enough room between each of the beds to admit a small table in the center of the room. It was a very odd way to arrange the furniture, and it had already caused minor injury to everyone except Hakkai, the table leaving small dark bruises on the hip bones and thighs of the unsuspecting.

Sanzo raised his paper, once again blocking his view of the eternally youthful Goku, and continued reading. _Something's up with the monkey_, a small, often ignored voice in the blond man's head piped up. _So what? None of my fucking business_, the more usual voice retorted. Violet eyes scanned the words on the page, registering nothing. _He's been quiet for days…relatively, anyway_, the unwelcome voice continued, _There must be something really bothering him. You're his mentor, after all.  
_

Sanzo ground his teeth in exasperation. If he could give his conscience corporeal form, he would. Then he would smack it with his harisen. Mentor, indeed. All he wanted was some quiet time to read his newspaper in peace. True, the monkey was not saying anything, or bothering him in any way, but that was the problem. He was in the room, and none of those things was happening. It was damned distracting.

In order to get Goku's attention, Sanzo picked up an empty juice can from the table, and hurled it at the boy's head.

Goku watched carefully as the created youkai dragged the half-breed out of the room by the hand. He had been watching them carefully ever since he first smelled it, a few weeks ago. Something was different with Hakkai and Gojyo, and though Goku had a clue what it might be, he was loathe to believe it without proof from his eyes to back up what his olfactory sensors were telling him. When they were gone, he turned and gazed out the window. The market was in that direction. The two of them had been doing this more and more frequently over the past weeks, going out alone, leaving Goku behind with Sanzo. Not that he minded being alone with Sanzo, but he wondered why his company was no longer desirable to the others. Particularly on shopping trips, when an extra pair of hands was never a detriment.

Goku was not a little jealous of, and hurt by, this recent change in attitude. Besides, there was that smell. The scent that clung to both Hakkai and Gojyo now, shared between them, where they had always been separate. They still smelled like themselves, but that other odor lay under these, and it was the same on both of them. His primal brain screamed suspicions at him, which he steadfastly refused to believe without the proof he now sought.

Though Goku was naïve, he was not stupid, and he watched now for something concrete to solidify his hunch. He did not really expect to find one brazen act, but the circumstantial evidence was piling up under his constant observation. He dared not speak of it to Sanzo until he was sure. If he did, and turned out to be wrong, it would be fodder not only for the priest but also for the other two as well. Hakkai would be kinder, but he often his hid barbs so well that they felt like compliments, until one's brain caught up.

Ah, there they were now. Goku sat up a little straighter, wide golden eyes taking in the tiniest details. Hakkai and Gojyo had exited the building by the front door, and were strolling side by side across the street. The walked slowly, falling into step in a leisurely stride. This was not at all like the purposeful pace that Hakkai set when Goku was with them. It seemed more intimate, somehow.

As the ageless child watched, Gojyo leaned over toward Hakkai, and their shoulders brushed together as the redhead bent just a little too close to the brunette's ear to say something. Hakkai's head fell back a little, the smile on his face so genuine when he laughed at whatever the kappa had said. Then the dark head fell slightly toward the other man's shoulder, just barely grazing it. Others might not have seen this, but he was Son Goku, and his senses were preternaturally acute.

He watched them walk away together, so much closer than when he was around, until they turned a corner and were lost to his sight. He didn't begrudge them whatever it was they were sharing now, but he was slightly disgruntled about the fact that they hadn't acknowledged it. Should he tell Sanzo now? The monk probably wouldn't care, but Goku did. Goku hated secrets.

He was snapped back to reality when something hard bounced off his skull at high speed.

"Oi, saru! Wake up," Sanzo's mellifluous voice followed.

"Sanzo! That hurt!" Goku rubbed at the sore spot left on his scalp by the contact.

"Shut up. Your head's too thick to damage. What are you looking at"

"Hakkai and Gojyo," the response was distracted, Goku looking out the window again, though his targets were well out of sight now.

"Aa. Why?" The blond priest was no more loquacious when he was actually interested than at any other time.

"Sanzo?"

"What?" the voice was exasperated now.

"I got something to tell you, I think"

Sanzo lowered the paper and raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Go on"


	2. Chapter 2

"They're _what_? You're crazy, saru," Sanzo did not even try to keep the incredulity out of his voice. He would have noticed something like that. Clearly, the idiot monkey had lost his mind.

"But, haven't you noticed th' way they been actin'?" Goku was quite disturbed that Sanzo didn't believe him. This was important, and he had proof. Well, no real hard proof, but his nose never lied, and Hakkai and Gojyo had definitely been acting strangely. "Like, they keep goin' ta do th' shoppin' without me." This amounted to incontrovertible evidence in the boy's mind.

"Not surprising. You're annoying."

"San-_zo_! You're not takin' me seriously. I can _smell_ it on 'em. They used ta smell completely different. Now Hakkai smells kinda like Gojyo. Underneath, y'know?" he could tell that he was starting to sound whiny, but he couldn't help it. He hated it when Sanzo didn't take him seriously. He hated it almost as much as he hated knowing his friends were keeping secrets.

"Hakkai's probably been using the kappa's soap," Sanzo reasoned, adding, "The gods know _Gojyo_ doesn't," under his breath. Could Goku be right? He knew better than anyone that the monkey's nose was ridiculously sensitive. Hell, he could smell a meat bun buried under six feet of silt, at the bottom of a river.

Goku sat staring at Sanzo, watching his habitual frown deepen by degrees as he assimilated this possibility. "Uh-uh, that's not it! I know what I'm talkin' about, Sanzo! You guys just all think I don't see nothin', but I do, and I'm tellin' ya there's somethin' fishy goin' on with them!"

"Shut up. I've said all I'm going to say on the subject. You will not speak to me of this again." Sanzo retreated to his fall back position: Make the Monkey Stop Talking.

"But, Sanzo, I…"

"I said shut up, idiot. You're imagining things." The priest's voice carried the first edge of the day. He would bet Gojyo's life that it wouldn't be the last.

"But, what about the way they look at each other all th' time, an' when they think no one's lookin'…"

Sanzo became aware of a kind of a squeaking noise. Ah, that was him, gritting his teeth. Right. The sound of the Smith & Wesson's hammer cocking back did not even register with the boy, who was, inexplicably, still babbling.

"…an' there was this one time," Goku's train of speech stopped dead as the gun was leveled on him.

"Did I not just tell you to shut up, monkey? _I refuse to discuss this any further._ If you say one more word, I'll kill you." Sanzo put on his best Don't Fuck With Me face, hoping against hope that it would be enough.

"But…" Goku began.

"Oi." It was his final warning, and he really wanted Goku to stop talking. If he did not, Sanzo was going to have to shoot him. He had had enough of shooting his companions, though several weeks in the world's best torture chambers could not have pulled that admission from him. It was useful to let them believe he was perfectly willing to end their stupid lives.

"Okay, Okay! Sorry! I'm gonna go for a walk. Geeze." With that Goku got up, bumping his hip on the table as he tried unsuccessfully to circumnavigate it, and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, the pretty, blond monk heaved a deep sigh of relief and gently released the hammer of the gun. He secreted the weapon in the depths of his robe once again. Clearly, a cigarette was in order. He reached out for his pack, shook one out and lit it before settling back to really think this through.

The monkey was right, of course, but Sanzo had been rather discomfited by the thought of discussing it with him. It was weird, and besides, he hated the fact that Goku had seen it first. For weeks, those morons had been sticking him with Goku at night, though he was never quite sure how. There were excuses, reasons, and on more than one occasion, they had simply kept him up so late playing cards in their room that Goku had fallen asleep in his. He never had the heart to wake the monkey just to change rooms, so he didn't.

There were the shopping trips, as Goku had mentioned, and the late night trips out to the bar together, the walks, the looks, and most of all, the surreptitious touches when they believed they were unobserved. Sanzo rolled his eyes. All the classic signs, and Sanzo had not noticed. He felt like a world-class idiot.

The thought of it made him vaguely nauseous, frankly. Images rose unbidden and _extremely_ unwanted in his mind. Gojyo slithering all over Hakkai, giving him those corny fucking lines of which he was so inordinately proud. Gojyo's gnarled hands on Hakkai's waist, Gojyo's slimy lips covering Hakkai's in a deep kiss, Gojyo running his big knobby fingers over Hakkai's chest, then sliding down to slip into the waistband of his pants…

No! It was insupportable. The idea of Hakkai letting that…_kappa_…touch him that way was simply not to be borne. He was going to have to have a talk with the healer as soon as he could make it happen. Stupid bastard was going to pay for making him have that conversation with the monkey, too.


	3. Chapter 3

For the past several days, the Sanzo-ikkou had been, collectively, rather… edgy. There existed around them a general air of annoyance and frustration that they refused to confront and yet could not ignore. Two nights of camping on the road had not improved matters any, and tempers were beginning to fray as they headed toward the next town.

Sanzo had stopped even putting his gun away, opting instead to keep it handy in his lap for quick, efficient death threats. He had found that it was most effective to apply this method of deterrent in an almost preventative manner. Second syllables emerging from any of his companions had become quite rare, in fact. Were he not so incredibly pissed off, he would have found it quite pleasing.

Hakkai's habitual smiles had grown more and more forced during this time, until he reached the point where he was consistently speaking through tight lips and clenched teeth. His usual cutting brand of facetiousness had turned downright catty, and he had pushed Goku nearly to the point of tears more than once. When he was able, he gave monosyllabic answers to questions, and made no comments at all. For some reason he could not fathom, the others kept asking him if he was okay.

Gojyo was not much changed by events, save that he had developed a certain propensity for ducking at every unexpected noise or movement. Certainly, his physical abuse of the monkey had become somewhat more intense over the past little while, but he chalked that up to three years' cumulative annoyance. His 'objective' opinion: it was not his fault. He was a victim of circumstance.

Goku, the ikkou's favorite lightning rod, was brewing up a storm of his own. He detested being treated as a child, and his companions' silence on the subject of the big 'secret' (which was well known by all of them) was nothing short of insulting. He was frankly running rather short on patience regarding this situation. Whenever he asked about what was going on, Sanzo just told him to shut up and forget about it. Secrets felt like lies, and as far as he was concerned, friends should not lie to each other.

Thus, an unusually subdued group entered the town that afternoon. There were several inns here, and they drove around for a bit, until they found one that Sanzo was willing to try. Fortunately, the innkeeper had several rooms available, and the dour monk asked for two (knowing that paying for four would be a waste of money, as one would undoubtedly go unused), and gave the host his credit card.

The other three drifted back outside to begin unpacking the Jeep in silence. Gojyo only hit Goku once, and received Hakkai's patented Look of Doom for his effort. Effectively subdued and warned against further antics, the hanyou loaded his arms with as much as he could carry, and headed off toward their rooms. Goku did likewise, and Sanzo appeared at the doorway in order to help by lighting a cigarette. Hakkai's lips thinned to a fine white line as he and strode past the monk, weighed down with not only his own baggage, but Sanzo's as well. Hakuryuu emitted a disapproving "kyuu," at the priest as he followed his chosen master inside.

"If I didn't need a car, I'd let Goku eat you," Sanzo muttered when he was sure they were out of earshot.

"I heard that," Hakkai's voice carried back to him.

By unspoken agreement, directly after putting their belongings in the rooms and showering, the foursome set out to find a place to eat. No one was in the mood to listen to Goku whine about his empty belly. Some two blocks from the inn, they spotted a promising place and slipped gratefully inside.

Goku ordered copious amounts of food. The others ordered copious amounts of alcohol, even Hakkai, for whom getting drunk was a near impossibility. They ate, drank, fought and were generally inconvenient, as was their wont at meals. Sanzo smoked when the others were eating, and Hakkai was snarky about it. Gojyo hit ruthlessly on their waitress, and Sanzo was bitchy about it. Goku ate like he was going to go another five hundred years without, and Gojyo was a prick about it. Hakkai smiled a lot, and no one dared complain about it.

They had been informed by their waitress, (who had grown rather talkative in the face of Gojyo's rather obvious attentions) that there was a festival beginning that night. Goku's face lit up at the mention of it, and Sanzo formulated a plan. It was a lovely plan, one that involved a whole lot of quiet time for the priest.

Hot showers, good food and alcohol went a long way toward restoring the companions' usual humor. As they walked out of the restaurant, Sanzo grabbed Gojyo's arm, and placed his card in the kappa's large hand.

"What's this for?" Gojyo inquired.

"Get the saru out of my hair for a few hours." Sanzo ordered as he pulled out his package of cigarettes. "Go to that festival. Buy him more food, get beer, whatever. Just don't come back for at least two hours. Got it?" It was not unusual for Sanzo to demand time to himself, but the offer of his card to pay for the outing was sufficiently strange to warrant a puzzled look even from Hakkai.

"Oookaaay…" Gojyo drawled, obvious suspicion in his voice. "Oi, Hakkai, you coming too?"

Hakkai laughed his little laugh, and shook his head. "No thank you, Gojyo. I need to get started on the laundry, and bring Hakuryuu his dinner. Besides, I wouldn't mind being able to have a cup of tea and read for a while. Today's drive has left me feeling rather tired, I'm afraid." He smiled at Gojyo, and reached out to tousle Goku's unruly hair. "You two go have fun. Please don't drink too much, Gojyo. You'll spend too much if your judgment gets impaired."

"Aa," the hanyou responded. He clapped Hakkai on the shoulder, letting his hand rest there just a beat longer than necessary, and received one of the healer's true smiles in return. Sanzo's eyes narrowed briefly at the exchange. Gojyo turned quickly to grab Goku in a vicious headlock, leading him away toward the festival grounds.

Hakkai couldn't repress another genuine smile as he watched to two walk away, shoving each other back and forth for a while. Eventually, they must have declared a race, for they both started running.

"'Ch" Sanzo offered around his cigarette, and they turned together to walk back to the inn.


	4. Chapter 4

Once back at their rooms, Hakkai fed the little white dragon, sorted through their laundry, and then put water on to heat for tea. Sanzo sat at the table, his robes hanging around his waist, smoking and ostensibly reading a newspaper. Hakkai was fully aware of the monk's surreptitious gaze as it followed him about the room. He sighed inwardly, and waited for the storm to break. Coming back to the inn had not really been his first choice, but Sanzo obviously had something to get off his chest.

As the usually outspoken blonde had not yet declared his issue, Hakkai had concluded that he was waiting until Gojyo and Goku were not around. The fact that he had freely given Gojyo his card for something other than groceries or cigarettes had confirmed this suspicion. Thus, Hakkai had given up a chance to relax a little and enjoy himself, in favor of attempting to remove this latest stick from Sanzo's ass.

When the tea was prepared, he brought it to the table, poured two cups, and slid one across the table to Sanzo. The monk grunted in the way the healer had come to recognize meant 'thank you', and took a sip. Hakkai pasted on his best false smile, sipped his own tea, and waited while Sanzo stared at him.

A tense silence permeated the room as they regarded each other across the little wooden table. Had they been different men, perhaps this mutual staring would have ended in less than the ten minutes or so that it lasted, but Sanzo and Hakkai were both stubborn as stone mules, so it did not.

Sanzo was determined to make Hakkai break the silence, but the youkai had the advantage. He had spent years cultivating an expression so patient and innocuous that it could make the Buddha kick a kitten. His smile had developed _gravitational force_. It was a conversational black hole, sucking the very air around it. Sanzo's resolve crumbled in the face of the other man's vacuous gaze, and he heaved a sigh as he dropped his eyes. Hakkai's delight was absolutely undetectable on the surface.

"What do you think you're doing?" the monk inquired.

Hakkai blinked. "Pardon me?"

"I asked you what you think you're doing. Have you gone deaf?" Sanzo spat back at him.

"I'm not sure to what you are referring, Sanzo. I'll be happy to answer you, if you would care to enlighten me." Hakkai's smile widened and a muscle in the monk's jaw started to twitch.

"Don't play dumb. I want to know what the hell you're doing in the kappa's _bed_!"

"Well, really Sanzo, that's a little personal, don't you think?" Hakkai deadpanned, watching closely for the vein in Sanzo head to pop out. Ah, there it was! Really, if he had not already been going to hell, this kind of thing might just do the trick, he thought.

"Don't make me kill you," the priest threatened, his expression promising a slow and painful demise, in the event.

"Okay, if you insist on knowing, usually Gojyo…"

"_Hakkai_," Sanzo interrupted, his violet eyes narrowing to tiny slits, "if you say one more word, I'll shoot you in the head."

"Okay, okay!" Hakkai laughed and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I offer you my deepest and most humble apologies, O Great Houshi-sama!" He was giggling outright by the end.

Sanzo subsided a little, but added, "You're really looking for death today," just to press the point. It wouldn't do to have any of them thinking he found their jokes even remotely entertaining.

"Actually, I'm curious as to how you figured it out. We tried to be discreet, so that you wouldn't be bothered by it." Hakkai asked this seriously. He knew that they hadn't been perfect, but both he and Gojyo had permanent dents on the insides of their lips from biting them in order to keep quiet. They had wanted some time to find out what this new thing was between them was, before they subjected it to the scrutiny and jibes of their companions.

"Hey," Sanzo replied, "I'm not as stupid as Gojyo looks." His tone sounded defensive, instead of the usual annoyed-slash-condescending.

"Ahahaha, I see," Hakkai said, his smile returning. "_You_ didn't figure it out at all, did you?" The dour expression on the monk's face answered for him. "I'd bet that Goku saw it first, since Gojyo and I have been together for some time, and you've only been…_out of sorts_, as it were…for a few days. That's the part that really bothers you, isn't it? That he figured it out first?" He couldn't control his mirth at this, and his smile had become a blatant grin.

"Hakkai, I'm _warning_ you…" Sanzo growled, and Hakkai hastily rearranged his face, resuming the blank look that he usually wore. "He smelled it, probably right away. He started watching you guys. When he was sure, he told me. That was back at the last town." He delivered this whole speech in a near monotone that spoke volumes about how angry Sanzo was that the monkey had known something – _anything _– before he had. He studiously avoided Hakkai's gaze.

"Ah, right," Hakkai mused, "I hadn't thought about that."

"So…?" The monk let the question hang in the air, not wanting to specify. The very thought of Gojyo sliming his way all over the healer was just about more than he could stand.

"Well, after that…village girl…when I was injured in the ambush, Gojyo took care of me. He was the only one who saw…what really happened. I was reliving everything that happened before we met, every moment of every day. I'm ashamed to admit that I was surprised – _unpleasantly _surprised – to find myself alive when I woke up." Here Hakkai paused, to give Sanzo time to assimilate what he had said.

The monk's eyes narrowed again, his face grew rigid. There was a distinct thinning of his lips as he listened to the brunette's words. The muscle in his jaw began to twitch again.

"Go on."

"When I was up and about, I went into Gojyo's room and borrowed a cigarette... uh, Sanzo? Are you okay?" Hakkai had grown alarmed at the sudden darkening of his companion's expression.

"Since when do you _smoke_?" the blonde ground out through clenched teeth.

"Ah, Goku again?" he inquired, and was favored with one of the smaller man's death glares. "Right, well, um… I used to smoke…before…and I quit. I only do it now when I'm under a lot of stress." He tried a small smile, and was thoroughly disappointed at the lack of reaction from the monk. He looked to Hakkai as though he was about to have an aneurysm. The healer was not sure he could fix that.

"Hurry up, damn it, before I puke." The normally pale monk did indeed look even whiter than usual.

"Yes. Um…Well, Gojyo confronted me about my actions during the ambush, the discussion got heated…one thing led to another, and…"

""Ch!" Sanzo interrupted Hakkai again, "Figures. The horny bastard took advantage of your weakness! Couldn't even wait until you were _healed_!" These observations he offered as facts, not questions. Hakkai frowned slightly (his face had nearly forgotten how to do it, now) at the gratuitous conclusions the monk had drawn. Once in a very great while, he was unable to discern the reality of a situation. He was completely nonplussed now, by Sanzo's anger.

"Um, Sanzo…"

"Cockroach bastard…" Sanzo was grumbling, no longer even looking at Hakkai.

"Sanzo?" he tried again

"Ought to ventilate his fucking head…"

"_Sanzo!_" he barked. The monk instantly jerked his gaze back to Hakkai's. He had stopped mumbling, but it was clear in his eyes that his brain was still at it. "Gojyo most certainly did _not _take any advantage whatsoever." There was something he was missing here, and if he did not get it figured out quickly, Gojyo was likely to wind up chewing on a gun barrel before the night was out.

"Whatever," Sanzo huffed, and looked away again.

"Now, Sanzo, listen to me, please," Hakkai cajoled in his best schoolteacher voice, "All he did that night was kiss me. Then I locked myself up for the day. Remember that? Once I had a chance to think things over, _I _went to _him_. That's when it started."

"Have you gone stupid?" the priest demanded, "I knew it would happen to one of us, sooner or later. Too much time with morons." This conversation really was making him feel sick. Every time Hakkai opened his mouth, Sanzo's traitorous mind offered up various and sundry opinions as to the things Gojyo would put in it. Ugh.

"Why are you so angry about this?" the converted youkai asked, in his usual tone: all soft and fuzzy on the outside, with a core of pure iron. "Apart from the fact that we are traveling together for this mission, it has nothing to do with you at all."

"'Ch," was Sanzo's eloquent reply.

"Please answer me, Sanzo," Hakkai wheedled.

"Why him?" The question came out so low that Hakkai had to ask the priest to repeat himself. "Why him?" Louder, this time.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

Sanzo heaved a deep sigh, rolled his eyes, and leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table. He looked Hakkai directly in the eye as he clarified:

"Why would _you _choose _him_? His point of view, I can understand." Sanzo was getting a headache, now. He wanted to end this quickly, and then promptly forget that it had ever happened.

"Why would I…?" Hakkai mused, "You don't mean…" Hakkai blushed furiously, "Sanzo, are you…are you… _jealous_?"

When he was of a mind, Sanzo was quite capable of moving with near-youkai speed. Hakkai became well acquainted with this little fact at that moment. Before he could blink, the monk stood up, pulled his fan out of wherever he kept it, leaned across the table, whacked the healer rather viciously with it, and sat back down. He did not, Hakkai noticed, put the fan away.

"I don't want _you_, you imbecile!" The blonde's face was a mask of incredulity.

"You mean you…" Hakkai was again interrupted, this time by the soft click of the Smith & Wesson's hammer cocking back.

"I suggest you think _very carefully _about what your next words will be." Sanzo truly believed he just might be angry enough to use it, if the other man continued. The priest could not imagine anything more repulsive than what he had been about to say.

"Ahahahaha," Hakkai laughed nervously, "okay, so how about you tell me what you _do _mean."

"I i _mean /i _, Gojyo leaves a slime trail! How could you spread your legs for _that_?" he clarified.

"How do you know I do?" Hakkai's gaze turned deadly cold in an instant. "I understand what you're saying, now, Sanzo," his voice could have frozen fire. Pushing his chair back, he rose. "I appreciate your concern, but I find I'm suddenly very tired. Good night."

With that, Hakkai turned on his heel and strode over to the door. He opened it, walked halfway out, and stopped. For a moment, neither man said anything, then:

"Sanzo, I _do _understand, and I _do _thank you for it." He turned his head so that Sanzo could see his profile against the darkness of the hallway.

"Aa," the monk replied, knowing that the other man really meant these things.

"He's good to me, Sanzo," Hakkai added, a soft offering to carry reasons and apologies.

"Aa." An equally soft acceptance.

Hakkai stepped out, closing the door quietly behind him. Sanzo heaved another sigh as he put the gun and the fan back in their proper places, then reached for a cigarette.

"He'd fucking _better_ be."


	5. Chapter 5

In Sanzo's defense, he tried. He really _did_ try.

Hakkai woke comfortably ensconced in Gojyo's embrace. He whimpered a negation of the morning, snuggling closer to the warmth of his lover. There was something needing his attention, though. What was that? His eyes popped open as it came to him: Goku.

"Nnnngh," Hakkai whined and twisted his head into Gojyo's flesh.

"What's up, babe?" Gojyo's deep voice inquired.

"Ohng, ig's nugging," Hakkai replied, his face still crushed into Gojyo's body.

The hanyou laughed aloud. "So…you're trying to climb into my armpit_…why_?"

Hakkai laughed despite himself. The uncontrolled burst of air escaped its confines in an unexpected raspberry against the redhead's ribs. This caused Gojyo to jerk suddenly away, lowering his arm precipitously…into Hakkai's head. The brunette grunted and curled in on himself, his hands reaching up to cradle his injured skull.

"Oh, gods! Hakkai, are you all right?" Gojyo asked, the concern in his voice still laced with suppressed laughter.

"'M fine," he whimpered, rubbing the tender spot, "It's just a little cranial trauma. Nothing to worry about."

The redhead chuckled and gently tugged Hakkai's hands away in order to plant a kiss on the injury. "I'm sorry. You should be careful about springing stuff like that on a body, you know?"

"Perhaps, had you told me that you're ticklish…" the healer admonished.

"You get used to hiding shit like that. Women find out you're ticklish, and they…they _tickle_ you."

"How very unreasonable," Hakkai commiserated, sarcasm all but undetectable. His mind groped again to recall the business that demanded that he leave his nice, comfortable bed so early in the morning. Right. Goku. Sanzo's little confrontation the night before had left Hakkai with the rather uncomfortable knowledge that Goku had been aware of his and Gojyo's relationship for some weeks, now.

Normally, that would not be anything to worry about, but nothing was _normal_ when it came to Goku's sensibilities. Hakkai was well acquainted with the younger man's feelings about lies, and knew unequivocally that an omission was the same as a lie in his opinion. This situation needed smoothing over before it could fester and become a point of contention among the Sanzo-ikkou. Yes, there was a peace to be made, and that necessarily meant that _Hakkai_ would have to make it. Naturally. _Obviously, _since the closest Sanzo had ever come to tact was hanging a picture, and Gojyo would not grasp diplomacy if it were growing on him.

Duty called, and Hakkai, as always, answered. He rolled his eyes and allowed an uncharacteristic sneer to pass across his lips as he sat up. Sometimes he really would like to tell the others to shove their collective stupid sensitivities right up their sphincters, but Hakkai would never say such a thing. No, Hakkai would laugh his little laugh, and speak soothingly from his little pigeonhole. Every now and then, on days like today, he wished that he had reinvented himself as a loudmouth schmuck.

On second thought, that would never work. Three of them in the company would be too many.

The converted youkai turned and swung his legs off the bed. Gojyo made a little moue of disappointment behind him, and reached out to grab Hakkai's shoulder, pulling him back toward the mattress.

"You're cute with your hair all sticking up like that, you know," the hanyou said, in his best I Wanna Do You voice.

"My hair _always_ sticks up, Gojyo," Hakkai replied, in his best Forget It voice.

"Not all sleepy-like. You're extra adorable in the morning. C'mon, babe, stay with me," Gojyo wheedled, pulling more forcefully this time. Hakkai allowed himself to lay back into Gojyo's embrace.

"I need to talk to Goku today, Gojyo. You know that. We talked about it last night, remember?" He really, really wanted to do as his lover asked, but Hakkai was anxious to get the interview with Goku over with, so he could go back to _not_ discussing his sex life with his teammates.

"Babe, I remember a lot of things about last night. Conversation _isn't _one of 'em."

_All the gods save me from fools and horny kappas_, Hakkai thought wryly. Taking Gojyo on as a lover had certainly proven to be educative, mostly regarding Hakkai's sexual stamina and tolerance for invention. He was not one to complain about excess of pleasurable things, but he was fairly certain that the majority of the time the hanyou spent in the backseat of the Jeep was spent in dreaming up new things to spring on him. Or possibly, trying to figure out how they could have sex while Hakkai drove, without getting caught.

Hakkai spent a moment in the rather difficult task of attempting to disentangle himself from a persistent Gojyo. While they had been talking, he had not only put his arms around Hakkai, but somehow had managed to twine his fingers through Hakkai's with one hand, while the other had become tangled in thick dark-brown hair, and their legs were now knotted together in a way that looked like it should be supremely uncomfortable. It wasn't.

"Gojyo, please let me get up," Hakkai asked patiently.

"Lover, I got no problem with you _getting up_," Gojyo chuckled, one eyebrow raised and the corner of his mouth tugging into a half-smile, "I just don't want you getting out of bed."

Hakkai had no response for that, so he laughed instead. He leaned in to claim a kiss, and as he drew back, settled an appraising gaze on Gojyo.

"How about a compromise?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "You let me get _out of bed_ so I can go talk to Goku, and I'll do something for you later."

"Like what?" Gojyo was intrigued.

"Anything you want," Hakkai replied, throwing caution to the wind. Gojyo was sure to think up something that would never have crossed the healer's mind in a million years. He was imaginative like that.

"_Anything_, hmm? I like the sound of that," Gojyo's voice was speculative, but his eyes were predatory as they roamed down Hakkai's naked body appreciatively. They shot back up to lock on Hakkai's green ones, "You promise?"

"I promise," the youkai smiled.

"You'd better remember that promise, mister," Gojyo threatened, eyebrow shooting up again.

"Or what?" Hakkai laughed, "Are you going to spank me if I try to back out?"

"Aww, you guessed!" The hanyou put on his best pout, but it dissolved into giggles as Hakkai's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open slightly.

"Gojyo! You're positively _wicked_, do you know that?"

"Mm-hm. And don't even try to deny that you love it."

Gojyo's eyes were sparkling with mischief and affection and Hakkai did not want to deny it; he was quite sure that he would never wish to deny anything to the silken crimson creature before him, should it be in his power to control. A tiny smile ghosted across Hakkai's mouth, then disappeared as he found himself captured by Gojyo's steady gaze. Neither man was laughing now. Hakkai unconsciously caught a piece of his lower lip lightly between his teeth as both surrendered to the changing flow of the moment.

About a half-hour previously, Hakkai had come barging (he only knocked once, poked his head around the door, smiled and offered a sunny 'Good morning!' before coming entering) into the room he shared with Goku, and demanded (only said 'please' twice) that the monkey should accompany him shopping. Then, without further explanation, he had grabbed Goku (or rather was grabbed _by_ Goku) and dragged (was dragged by) him out of the room.

Sanzo had stared at the closed door for a long moment, an unlit cigarette dangling limply from his slack lips. Eventually the filter slipped out from under his upper lip and the other end bumped gently against his chin. Snapped from his reverie by the sensation, he reached up to pluck the cigarette from where it was resolutely stuck to his lower lip. A hiss escaped him as he pulled it off, taking a tiny piece of skin with it. Oh, yeah. This day was off to a fucking _beautiful_ start.

_It's not as if I made any fucking promises or anything, _Sanzo thought. _I have a right to be concerned about the mental state of my driver, ne? I mean he's a bastard, but I fucking need him on this journey. His precious little fucking pet wouldn't let anyone else drive if anything happened to Hakkai, and the gods can all kiss my entire ass if they think I'm going to fucking WALK to India. _

He started to nod to himself as he followed this line of thought. It was reasonable. As leader of this group of rejects, it was his job to extrapolate the possibilities of the situation, unsavory though they might be.

_And honestly, if we're talking about that horny gods-damned half-breed, I really need to consider the physical…No. No, I don't. Whatever, as long as he doesn't BREAK Hakkai, I don't give a shit. Stupid fucker's already got him smoking, though. Maybe that's not such a bad thing…Hakkai could just about do with a vice…unwind the crazy fuck. Of course, fucking Gojyo might…UGH! That little mental picture I did NOT fucking need._

Thus, Sanzo's mind wandered, as minds are wont to do and he sat for another half-hour, smoked two more cigarettes and chased the tail of his ruminations until they brought him back to his starting point. A quick glance at the clock confirmed how much time he had wasted. There was no telling how much longer Hakkai would be out with Goku, and he needed to finish his little 'chat' with Gojyo before they returned. Heaving a huge, heavy sigh, Sanzo stood up and made his way toward the door.

_I swear on all the gods there ever were, I'm going to live through this stupid fucking mission. Afterward I'm going to attain fucking nirvana, and DIE. Then, I'm going to Heaven and I'm going to kick that bitch Kanzeon's she-male ASS for making me even THINK about this shit. _

With a disgusted grimace and an impressive roll of his eyes, the world's least holy monk opened the door and walked out into the hallway.


End file.
